Improved method of lighting gas by electricity



s. GARDINER, Jr. LIGHTING GAS BY ELECTRICITY, &c.

No. 19,766. PatentedMar. so, 1868.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAML. GARDINER, JR, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVED METHOD OF LIGHTING GAS BY ELECTRICITY.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 19,766, dated March 30, 1858.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL GARDINER, J r., of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Lighting Illuminating-Gas by Electricity, which is also applicable to relightin g gas when accidentally extinguished; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in Which- Figures-1 and2 are side views, taken at right angles to each other, of a gas-burner with my improvement applied, the latter figure showing the tip of the burner in section. Fig. 3 is a top view of the same.

Similar letters of reference in each of the several figures indicate corresponding parts.

This invention relates to the lighting of gas as it issues from a burner by the heat generated by the passage of a current of electricity through a coil of platinum wire forming part of an electric conductor and placed near the orifice or orifices of the burner.

It also relates to the employment of a platinum coil near a burner, to be heated by the flame thereof to a sufficient degree to reignite the gas if the light should he accidentally extinguished.

The nature of my invention consists in placing a coil of platinum wire or its equivalent in the relative position to the jet of gas as described, for the purpose of lighting thejet by electricity and forreignitin g it when blown out, under the circumstances and for the purposes presently stated.

To enable others-skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the burner. a is the copper or other metal wire of the conductor, of greater capacity than the platinum coil. I) is the platinum coil inserted to close'a brake in the conductor a. c is an insulator of glass or other material on the burner, and having two holes in it for the conductor to pass through to keep the latter in place and retain the coil in its proper po sition, if the same time it insulates the conductor from the burner.

The burner A is of what is known as the fish-tail kind, provided with two oblique orifices, the jets from which, impinging upon each other, spread into a broad, thin sheet, making a broad, thin flame, d, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The coil b is arranged to stand near the orifice or orifices of the burner parallel with the sheet of gas produced by the union of the two jets, and close to one side thereof. It is represented as being arranged horizontally, but may be arranged vertically. It may be applied to a bats-Wing or otherburner, but is to be always arranged so that the sheet orjet of gas will pass close by it and not strike directly upon it.

The gas, passing close by the coil in the manner before described, will, when the coil is heated to a white or bright-red heat by the passage of electricity through it, be instantly ignited, and the flame, after the current of electricity ceases to pass through the coil, will keep it heated to such a degree that if the light be accidentally blown out the gas will be re ignited by the heat of the coil.

When the coil is merely used as a means of reigniting the gas when the light is accidentally blown out, it may be attached to the burner in any convenient manner without being made to form part of an electric conductor.

I am aware that scientific experiments have heretofore been made by which hydrogen gas has been ignited by the use of a platina sponge, but without the aid or application of electricity.

I am also aware that a platina sponge has heretofore been used in the coal-mines of Europe for the reignition of lamps when accidentally extinguished; and in the course of my many laborious and perplexing experiments for several years with various kinds of metals used as a conductor of the electric current in the form of straight wires, flat or corrugated plates or wires, I found nothing so sure and efficient as the platina coil arranged and used in the manner described in my application.

I would remark that it is not absolutely necessary to have the whole of the coil b protected from direct contact with the issuing gas in the event of electricity being employed for lighting. So long as a portion of the coil is thus pro tected the results will be as described, though I prefer to have the whole coil kept away from direct contact with the gas.

A modification of myinvention would be to pass the platina coil 2) directly across or over the orifice of the burner, the coil being of such a length that one or both ends shall project beyond the limit of theissuing gas. In this arrangement a portion of the coil would remain unexposed to direct contact with the gas, and the efi'ects produced would be, in the event of electricity not being employed, but partially the same.

\Vhatl claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

Placing a coil of platinum wire or its equivalent in the relative position to the jet of gas as described, for the purpose of lighting the jet by electricity and for reigniting' it when blown out, under the circumstances and for the purposes set forth.

SAM Witnesses:

W. Tusou, W. HAUFF.

L. GARDINER, JR. 

